GCSE N6F

GCSE N6F disaster relief

Learning Objective:

• we are learning to use fractions, percentages and ratios in a functional context
• we are learning to apply mathematical problem solving processes to a real-life situation
• you may also learn something about the value of charities and learn about the important work done by aid workers in disasters, developing your social conscience and awareness

Investing:

• This is useful because it shows you how a bit of mathematics can save lives
• The whole activity is designed as a functional (real-life) application.
• You will be able to use the same skills with fractions and percentages to solve other money problems in all sorts of situations
• This could help you almost any job: these skills can help you work out the cost of a loan, the value of an investment and to check your taxes.
• It's also useful to see the social value of mathematics and problem-solving

Preparing:

• You may wish to use this introductory powerpoint:
  

  Disaster Relief.ppt
  

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  or use the links and questions below
  
  
• watch this video which shows news clips of the Boxing Day tsunami in south east Asia (some viewers may find certain scenes distressing):

• What is our reaction to this video?
• You may be interested to know how a tsunami works

Discovering/discussing:

• You will probably get the most out of this activity if you treat it as a role-play and imagine you are in this situation.

• Imagine you are in Chile doing some voluntary work for a charity when a tsunami hits the coast of Chile near where you are staying.
• You are unhurt, but you are among a small group of aid-workers who are first to arrive on the scene in the city of Concepción.

• Think about how you might feel.
• Imagine the sights, sounds, smells...

• Now you realise you need to act to help others. Quickly.
• You gather together as a team, find some paper and start to jot down a few quick plans...

• In pairs, discuss what facts would you need to know to begin planning the disaster relief effort. Note these on plain paper.
  • You should aim for a dozen or more questions you need to answer
  • This should take no more than 5 minutes
  • Remember that you're in role, and people are injured and dying in this scenario, so you need to be decisive.
  
  
• Facts you might consider include:
  • The number of people affected
  • The resources you need to use and how much this might cost

• Keep track of role-play time using this timer.
  • Use splits to record how long each activity takes in the role play.
  • Pause the timer when you step out of role to discuss ideas.

• Prioritise: to work out some answers to your key questions, what five facts do you need first?
  • (suggestions and hints follow)

Modeling:

• Here are some examples of questions that other learners have suggested in the past:
  • What roads are closed? How can we get there?
  • What was the population of the area before the disaster?
  • What resources are left in store and undamaged? Can we get to them?
  • Where is the greatest level of damage? Where should you go first?
  • Do you (personally) still have a house or base to work from?
  • Is anyone badly hurt or dead nearby?
  • Can we quickly identify a designated area to send people to be safe from aftershocks or other consequences?
  • How many people have got no food? No water? Are injured? Are missing other basics?
  • How many people are missing?
  • What supplies will we need? First aid boxes? Litres of water? Kilograms of food?
  • How much will all this cost to fix?
  • How many volunteers do you have to help?
    
    

Exploring:

• Back in role
  • You try to get a phone signal or a wi-fi link. The radio masts must have been damaged. Nothing.
  • You are on a hill overlooking the city, so at least you are safe from further tsunami waves. You make a plan.
  • Some of the group split off and head downhill to help the injured.
  • You and your small team is left to work out the costs and logistics of providing food, water, shelter and medical supplies to the survivors.

• You send one of your group to get a travel guide from his rucksack - it has some information about Chile and the city of Concepcion.
• Another one of you looks through some literature from your aid organisation - it tells you about costs and amounts of food and supplies.
• Someone else's diary has some information about units of measurement in the back. This might be useful.

• You piece together some facts:

Disaster relief Resource sheet 1.1.doc

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• How would you group these facts together? Why?
• What can you work out now?
• You send some of the team off to help
• Some of you may wish to be more sophisticated in your calculations:

Practicing:

• Some straightforward examples.
• Some harder examples.
• Some mixed examples.
• Some non-examples to spot and some mixed questions with redundant, insufficient or contradictory data.
• You can demonstrate fluency by at least...

Sharing:

• A web page or wiki I have created to explain this can be found at...
• A presentation I have created and rehearsed looks like...
• A poster I have drawn or model I have made can be found...

Assessing:

• Check you've mastered this skill by...
• Show you understand by explaining...
• Prove you're an expert in... by...

Links:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNlbhx1o6wQ
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7tXaLv0Ps&NR=1
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG7tXaLv0Ps&feature=related
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0Esiu66d90&feature=related

Acknowedgements:

This unit of work is developed from the excellent StudyPlus materials published by the National Strategies site of the Department for Children School and Families in the UK. You can access the original materials at the StudyPlus Disaster Relief page Teachers' unit plans are available.
This activity was first published in 2007. It was based on the 1960 Chilean earthquake and the likelihood of further geological activity in the region. Its design pre-dated the two Chilean tsunami events of 2010 and 2011, but these have since been included in some of the media I've chosen to illustrate the work. The 2010 tsunami killed approximately 350 people in the city of Concepcion that StudyPlus had chosen as its case study.
Much of the data that has been updated in the project is from wikipedia.
Some of the photgraphs used to illustrate this activity have been sourced from the UNDP Photostream and the photostream of Chilean documentary photographer Carolina Inostroza.
last edited: Sep 29, 2012 5:45 am